Compensation Plan For People Hit By Tisco Project Attacked

A joint fact-finding team consisting of members of the Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR), Delhi, and Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), West Bengal, has objected to the compensation and rehabilitation package announced by the Orissa government for the people affected by Tata Iron and Steel Cos (Tisco) steel project coming up at Gopalpur.

The plant site is about 12 km to the east of Behrampur in Ganjam district of Orissa.

A six-member team carried out a detailed analysis of the issues involved in land acquisition. It has outlined three objections to the compensation and rehabilitation package. These are:

 

*The compensation announced in the rehabilitation package amounts to Rs 1 lakh per acre. The report says that the amount is inadequate and pathetically low.

*Tisco had earlier calculated the total compensation and rehabilitation cost to be about Rs 150 crore.

Of this, payments towards cost of land, compensation for immovable property, the exgratia amount and the entitlement as per the resettlement and rehabilitation guidelines amount to Rs 110 crore, while the self rehabilitation cost works out to Rs 3 crore.

About 5,000 acres of land is being acquired by the company, along with 540 acres for rehabilitation of villages from the plant site. Another 1,000 acres will accommodate the plant and the employees.

After talking to villagers in the affected area, the team found out that on an average, the income generated by one acre of land is about Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 per year. The villagers cultivate keora, cashewnuts, coconuts and occasionally vegetables.

In view of this, the compensation amount will barely generate Rs 12,000 per annum as interest on an investment of Rs 1 lakh.

Apart from the fact that it is a one-time compensation, the report says that for families owning less than one acre of land, the compensation amount would produce no income stream and would simply be consumed.

Secondly, according to the rehabilitation plan, about 2,500 people would get employment in the plant itself, while another 8,000 jobs would be generated in construction activities. The report argues that the 2,500 jobs would be of a skilled nature and therefore unsuitable for the low unskilled locals, while the other 8,000 jobs would be transitional and temporary in nature.

Also unlike the Tisco township in Jamshedpur, ancillary facilities like a hospital would be run and maintained on a contractual basis.

The third problem with the compensation is that it does not address the question of government land. The areas under consideration include 700 to 800 acres of government land which has been brought under plough. Another 550 to 650 acres lie fallow and is used for cattle grazing etc. No compensation is envisaged for these resources, the report points out.